Ross County voters are in the final days of early voting for the Nov. 3 general election, and the county’s elections officials say turnout is running higher than usual. More than 6,000 people had voted in person at the Ross County Board of Elections and more than 3,000 ballots had been mailed out as of Thursday, Oct. 29, board Director Traci Henness and Deputy Director Jessica Ott told the Scioto Post.
Early in-person voting continues Sunday, Nov. 1, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the board office, 475 Western Ave., Suite D, in Chillicothe, under the Ohio Secretary of State’s statewide schedule. There is no early voting on Monday, Nov. 2. On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, voters must cast ballots at their own polling place, with polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
There are no contested local races in Ross County this year, the Chillicothe Gazette reported in its ballot preview. Seven issues are up for a vote across the county, including a Chillicothe City Schools annual income tax of 0.75 percent on earned income for five years for current expenses, and a City of Chillicothe 0.2 percent income levy dedicated exclusively to street paving, repairs and improvements, according to the Gazette. Paint Valley Local Schools is also asking voters to renew a 2.5-mill levy for five years for permanent improvements, the Gazette reported.
The school income tax is a return trip to the ballot: a similar Chillicothe City Schools issue failed earlier this year, the Chillicothe Gazette reported, and the district brought the five-year, 0.75 percent earned income tax back for the November vote.
Absentee voters face a hard deadline this year. Completed ballots must reach the board by 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 3 to be counted — there is no longer a post-Election Day grace period — and Secretary of State Frank LaRose warned on Oct. 27 that it might already be too late to mail a ballot and have it arrive in time, according to reporting by The Columbus Dispatch via Cleveland.com. Voters still holding a ballot can drop it off at the board office, 475 Western Ave., Suite D, Chillicothe.
Voters can look up their exact sample ballot and precinct online before heading out, the board notes, and print a copy to make voting faster on Tuesday. Questions can go to the board office at 740-775-2350.
What happens next: after the final early-voting session ends Sunday at 5 p.m., the next ballots cast in Ross County will be at precinct polling places on Tuesday. Henness and Ott told the Scioto Post that results will start posting on the board’s website by about 8:30 p.m. on election night — mostly absentee and mailed votes first — and will be updated roughly every half hour as precinct results come in, with final unofficial results expected late Tuesday night and certification in mid-November.